Available:*
Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000000731723 | DS595.2.C5 H46 1988 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
Searching... | 30000000587943 | DS595.2.C5 H46 1988 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
Unlike most standard works on Malaysian politics, which tend to treat Chinese politics as one component part in the complex mosaic of multi-racial politics in Malaysia, this book focuses on the unique configuration of Chinese political development within that mosaic. Highlighting the importance of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) in engaging the active participation of Malaysians of Chinese descent in the mainstream politics of their adopted homeland, the author charts that organization's history, social and ideological background, and pivotal role in the events surrounding the defeat of communist insurgency and the attainment of independence.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
A specialized history of the Chinese political party, the Malaysian Chinese Association, from its beginning to 1957, when the colony achieved independence. The author tries to bring it up to date with a very short epilogue, but the essay is so slim and devoid of detail that it is no more than a good guide to the period. Heng uses documents, the private papers of the founders, and interviews to fill out the record; he offers new information about some of the details of the party and the people who were connected with it. But this is not the history of the Chinese politics in Malaysia as the title suggests; it hardly touches on the Communist party and its supporters; it also limits itself to the peninsula and has practically nothing to say about "Chinese" politics in Singapore or about the impact of the politically aware Chinese on the conservative leaders on the peninsula. Furthermore, although the author is aware that the subject cannot be understood outside its social and political context (the Malaya factor), he gives the reader just the barest information about the environment of Chinese politics. The book can be read with profit in conjunction with some older but still relevant studies, such as K.J. Ratnam's Communalism and the Political Process in Malaya (CH, Mar '66), Gordon Means's Malaysian Politics (CH, Jun '71), and Mohamed Noordin Sopiee's Political Unification in the Malaysia Region: 1945-65 (microfilm, 1978). Upper-level students and general readers. -J. Silverstein, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick Campus
